Sophia Sullivan parted her lips.
No sound came out.
An aura of lethal danger radiated from Liam Winston.
He looked like a demon crawling from the depths of hell.
His beauty was striking yet menacing.
When his cold gaze swept over, the air seemed to freeze.
Sophia felt a chill crawl down her spine.
Her instincts screamed that this man had blood on his hands.
He could snap someone's neck without hesitation.
Ethan Sullivan stood nearby, his dark eyes unreadable.
Instead of fear, he seemed drawn to this dangerous version of Sophia.
He could sense the anguish she buried deep inside.
Suddenly, Sophia laughed.
The sound dripped with mockery.
"Liam Winston, if you have even a shred of decency left, you'd remember those three years I spent in the Winston family."
"I cared for your parents, managed the household, obeyed your every whim."
By the time they divorced, her heart had turned to ashes.
As children, Liam had saved her once. They'd made a childhood promise.
In the end, only she remembered.
Sophia had hoped for an amicable separation, preserving some dignity.
How naive she'd been.
"You actually believed I stayed to play the dutiful wife because I wanted something."
"That I coveted your grandfather's blood jade."
Her laughter rang out again, bitter and hollow.
How ridiculous.
When someone doesn't love you, even your breath seems suspicious.
A trickle of blood escaped Liam's lips.
He should have been comforting the tearful Chloe Evans.
Yet his gaze remained locked on Sophia.
For three years, he'd refused to believe she married him for money.
Now doubt crept in.
Liam forcibly suppressed the absurd thought.
He couldn't let his ex-wife unsettle him.
Then Sophia delivered the final blow.
"Because I genuinely loved you once."
"I was foolish enough to think giving everything would earn your heart."
She'd never spoken these words before.
Their childhood promise became an obsession, innocent affection twisted into marital chains.
Looking back now, it all seemed as repulsive as mosquito blood smeared on a wall.
Phrases like "hitting a wall" and "unable to forget"
Now felt like knives stabbing her chest.
But things were different now.
Sophia faced her past head-on.
To truly move on, she had to confront the wounds.
"Liam Winston, you disgust me now."
She knew explanations were pointless with someone who'd never loved her.
His feelings no longer mattered.
"This slap repays three years of wasted affection."
"From today, we're even."
Liam stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.
Gasps erupted around them.
"Wasn't the Winston Group nearly bankrupt when Miss Sullivan married in?"
"I heard she single-handedly saved the company."
"She gave up her career to be a homemaker—wasn't that love?"
"Some people are blind and heartless."
The whispers crashed over Liam like tidal waves.
He remained rooted in place, mind blank.
Even Chloe's voice calling his name didn't register.
Sophia's words echoed endlessly in his ears.
—"Because I genuinely loved you once."
—"Liam Winston, you disgust me now."
The lies he'd told himself lay exposed.
He'd never admitted it, not even to himself—he'd fallen for Sophia.
For three years, he'd pushed her away, tormented her, tried to kill her love.
Now that she'd finally let go,
Liam felt as if part of his heart had been carved out.
The pain was excruciating.
He wanted to say something.
But watching Sophia walk away without looking back left him powerless.
Old wounds reopened. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
"Sophia..."
Blood sprayed from his lips.
His face turned deathly pale.
The crimson pool on the floor was horrifying to behold.